Dubai: For a top flight sportsperson like Saina Nehwal, heartbreaking losses are as much a part and parcel of life as thrilling wins. However, the loss at the All England final last Sunday continues to rankle quite badly — as she perhaps realises that it could have been her best opportunity to claim a Major in her sport.
“Yes, I am unable to grasp my failure at Birmingham. It was a divine chance, but I could not avail it even though I had the upper hand,” the world No. 3 told Gulf News in an interview from India.
Going through the campaign at the All England in her mind, the 24-year-old said she cannot condone her ‘hurry’ to finish things off in the final after taking a 1-0 lead against world champion Carolina Marin of Spain, a player she had beaten as recently as January at the Syed Modi Invitational.
It was Saina’s first-ever appearance in the finals of the All England in seven appearances, having made two semi-finals and three quarters in the past.
This time around, Saina was on a high after having conquered her nemesis — China’s Wang Yihan in the last eight and Sun Yu in the semi-finals, respectively. “I should have remained relaxed. I had everything going my way, but then I lost focus and tried to hurry and made mistakes in the second game. I could not come back thereafter,” she said.
Looking ahead, the Indian superstar said she was keen to draw on the positives in her game over the last five to six months. A China Open crown last November, followed by a semi-final finish in the IBF Super Series Finals in Dubai had catapulted her to world No. 3, while the runners-up spot in Birmingham will make her world number two after a gap of more than four years.
“Yes, it is nice to be on top of the game again. A world No. 2 ranking will give me some advantage in few of the tournaments in the way of a bye or easy draw. I will try to maintain it for some time, but my goal would be to seal the number one spot this year,” Saina said.
While the label of an Olympic bronze medallist sits on her, Saina’s biggest achievement had been the manner in which she could engage the imagination of the Indian sports fan otherwise so besotted with cricket. Every time she progresses in an international event, the social media and the Bollywood twitterati goes into a tizzy — while the legendary Sachin Tendulkar wished her luck on the eve of last final.
When reminded of all the adulation she enjoys, Saina mused: “It’s a privilege that I get so much attention in a country so immersed in cricket. I have never slipped out of the bracket of top 10 players ever since 2008 Beijing Olympics and I am thankful to my coaches for the hard work they have invested on me.
“ My parents are very supportive to me while the Olympic Gold Quest is like a defensive wall behind me. I am highly thankful to them as I can always fall back on them — whether it is physio, travel expenses and sport medicine advice,” she said.
Late last year, Saina had dumped her mentor and former All England champion Pullela Gopichand, preferring to move under the fold of Vimal Kumar and also set up a training base in Bangalore. Asked as how has she benefited under the new coach, Saina said: “I am comfortable with Vimal Sir’s training, he tells me about my mistakes and we try to correct it through conversation. I want this one-to-one approach … I am not worried about hard work, give me more training I will try to derive more out of it.”
Early this year, Saina got embroiled in a bit of controversy when she expressed her displeasure at not being nominated for the Padma Bhushan award — one of the highest civilian honours in India. The Union Sports Ministry did finally rush with the nomination, but her reaction did not go down well with the Indian sporting fraternity — with some big names even criticising Saina in the media.
So, does she look at the incident as media hype?
Saina was understandably defensive this time: “I am not at all in this controversy. Some people turned it out of proportion. When God will be kind on me and my luck will favour me, all things will fall in line.”
